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Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

Looks like it's official! System Matters is publishing a German version of Sock Puppets. I was delighted to discover that the German translation of Sock Puppets is "Sockenpuppen"... which is just adorable.

System Matters Verlag @systemmatters.bsky.social · 20d

Unsere Neuheiten zur SPIEL 2025! 🎲✨
📚 DCC: Der Schlüssel zu Burg Weissenfels, Der Trichter #6
🐭 Mausritter: Tessos Rache, Die Reise zum Käsemond
🎨 Der Blinzelhund #2
🎭 Sockenpuppen
☕ Kakao Matters Tasse
Infos: www.system-matters.de/347785/messe...
Halle 1, Stand 1D711 💙
#pnpde #SPIEL2025

October 29, 2025 at 8:07 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

i don't usually post about my weekly indie TTRPG livestream, but this session featured a well dug into the sky... and someone drew it.

thanks to friend of the show sierra for this bizarre, delightful gift. and thanks to nick wedig for Florilegium, a TTRPG about magic.

nickwedig.itch.io/florilegium

A poster reads: UPPER FRESCIA WAITS FOR NO-ONE! Two peasants carrying shovels walk up a tower that leads into the open sky.

October 14, 2025 at 3:25 AM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

sock puppets in this cool indie game store's new inventory picture is looking like

Two people sit beside each other as a selfie is taken in a car. The person on the left has extremely colorful hair and a bright smile. The person on the right is unsmiling and monochrome. Editor's note: I believe this picture was originally shared on the internet by one of the people pictured, and that they were sisters? These distant memories. Who can say. Certainly easier to ramble into alt text then verify for you.

October 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Alex Roberts

@helloalexroberts.bsky.social

Can't overstate this! It feels wonderful to know that someone had a good time with your game. It's not just that they appreciate your work. Someone's day, maybe a day with their friends, got better because of something you put into the world. It's a special feeling.

momatoes @momatoes.com · Sep 28

If you enjoyed a game on Itch, leave a comment!

Honestly, it really brightens a creator's day. And it's a big encouragement for others who may be interested in getting that game.

Itch hides reviews from the game page, so I find comments more useful in the long run.

Like a game? Comment away!

September 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

I wrote an article about how to manage your art in the event of your death, for tabletop RPG designers. Sharing here as screenshots with alt text.

Or, follow the link below:

www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/...

Some folks may have seen the article going around about J.D. Maxwell's absence after his Grimwild crowdfunding campaign. We don't know what happened to Grimwild's designer, and I would ask that we not speculate on the nature of his absence here. Still, this raised certain questions in my community of practice about art after death of the artist.

There are real options for how to handle creative works after death or incapacitation, if you make preparations while you're around. I'm going to share a practical approach in this thread.

Quickly, before we start: if you're not in the headspace to read this, that's okay. Close the tab. Your responsibility is to your well-being. Making a plan for your art is firmly in extra credit territory. It's okay to set this aside.

I'll break this down into four steps.

1. Keep organized records (ongoing).
2. Elect caretakers.
3. Set up a dead man's switch.
4. Document your wishes.

Both 2 and 4 are areas that benefit from an estate plan (including a legal will) if there's money involved. I am not going to discuss the drafting of formal wills here, but understand that wills are very important. See post-script in the comments.

Absence isn't the only time that itemized protocols would be helpful, though. If I think "I need to upload my game to itch.io," I'm either going to see none of these steps (and assume I'll be done instantly), or see all of these steps as an amorphous, daunting process that disinclines me to ever bother doing it. Breaking larger tasks into smaller ones helps you see the labour as something that can be performed in small pieces, and helps you plan an appropriate amount of time to get it done.

Plus, memory is unreliable! If there's something I only do once a year, will I remember those steps when it's time to do them again? Maybe not. That's why it's useful to have operating procedures written out, for you and anyone else who comes after.

2 - Elect caretakers.
If not you, then who?

The ideal person to handle your creative output after your passing is someone who you trust, and who values and understands your art. This is a little tricky, because those two things don't always exist in the same person. You might have a spouse, sibling, parent or child you loves you very much, but has no personal interest in your hobby.

Ask multiple people. If you get multiple affirmative responses, that means you have backups. Organize them in a hierarchy of responsibility so that if Person A is too busy (or overwhelmed, or absent, or already passed) when the unthinkable happens, Person B can then accept or decline the duty. If you ask a bunch of people and don't set a hierarchy, now you have a committee. And nobody wants to have to deal with a committee.

Much like being the executor of a will, caring for someone's art is an honour-flavoured burden. Your job is to choose people who are both willing and able to do this, and to make "no" a comfortable answer for them if they need it.

3 - Set up a dead man's switch.
A dead man's switch is anything that's designed to trigger if the operator is incapacitated or dead. This is what fires the message to your art's caretakers.

The simplest way to do this is probably Google's Inactive Account Manager. If your Google account is inactive for a specified period, Google's systems will attempt to contact you several times (through several avenues). If you fail to respond, it will provide access to some or all of your files or accounts to one or more people of your choosing. If you don't store your files on Google Drive, you can still use this feature to provide access to documents with sensitive information -- though be careful with what you choose to store in plaintext.

Some password managers also have this service. So do some paid services, but you need to be confident that they'll still be around if you aren't.

4 - Document your wishes.
Finally, this is what your art's caretaker is actually responsible for. Make sure your instructions are clear and feasible. You want it to be extremely obvious where your works are kept and what you want done with them. Consider:

Should some or all of your drafts be made public? Which ones? Where would they be published?

Do you want to offer certain collaborators or publishers the chance to finish and distribute some works? If so, how will rights (& revenue) be divided?

Is there any community you want to be informed of your passing, local or online? Would that include a message from you?

You may also have business concerns related to active Kickstarters or distribution. The approach to handling this will depend on your region and business structure.

If you read all of this and thought: This is too much work, nobody would care, and we've gone beyond the scope of my concerns or interest. Well, perfect. You've learned something. If there's no business stuff involved that would frazzle your loved ones, then it's okay to let your art die too. Maybe its job was to make you smile, or think, or learn something. Maybe it existed to bring a little bit of joy to a small group of people in a strange and scary world.

Maybe that's all any of us exist to do, really.

August 27, 2025 at 7:05 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

I celebrated the fifth anniversary of my first published game with a crossword puzzle.

If I was a more sane person, that sentence would mean "I had a bubble bath and did a crossword puzzle in the tub." But no. I made one. Which, it turns out, is wildly difficult.

You can play it or read more here.

It's the fifth anniversary of my first game, so I made you something.

Hello darlings. You would think that after a few decades swimming in the stuff, I would be less surprised by time. The funny way it warps and flows and comes...

buttondown.com

August 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

I'm gonna be a tease about this one.

Text within a halo of dots. The text reads:
Name: #ERROR
Class: Xenon
Age: 83
Type: Mender / Local / Ghost
Grandchildren: 2
[name, common interest] x2
Achievement: 1
[career / hobby / obstacle overcome]
Regret: 1
[missed opportunity / harm caused]

August 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Nick

@deepdark.games

You can get HOME from IPR, but I'd also highly recommend:

Curios by @smolghost.bsky.social (a really cool investigation game that's a literal envelope full of evidence!)

& The Hourglass Sings by @kurtrefling.bsky.social (GMless worldbuilding inspired by Zelda!)

Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · Aug 2

17/17 And our #booth449 tour concludes. If you go back and look at the first two pictures you can see even more games along the back table, including The Monster Overhaul.

August 2, 2025 at 3:22 AM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Indie Press Revolution

@ipr.bsky.social

6/17 Sock Puppets and friends!

August 2, 2025 at 2:35 AM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Peter Elroy

@fanterland.itch.io

This week at #RPGNightUtrecht we played Sock Puppets by @kurtrefling.bsky.social . What a unique joy it was! And a shining example of how you don't need mechanics when players know exactly what to do.

Craft materials and sock puppets at the play table.

July 12, 2025 at 8:21 AM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

[Heated arbitration with the fetus union.]

And why do you work on the nose in week 8? Don't sniff around in there. It's not OSHA-compliant. You know what else gets made in that cavity. Use week 8 for something useful; develop empathy.

[An aide whispers in my ear.]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S YEAR 8.

July 16, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

i hope there's a D&D guy out there who thinks it's spelled "fivey".

July 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Taylor Felicity

@rollforfelicity.bsky.social

I got to play @kurtrefling.bsky.social’s Sock Puppets today and decided it wasn’t enough to make a puppet, I had to also dress like a children’s show puppeteer

Mirror selfie of me with my puppet, Large Bean. I’m wearing a rainbow striped dress and Sesame Street scrunchies.

Selfie of me (a human) and Large Bean (a sock puppet)

July 5, 2025 at 10:14 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

Moonshot filmed a playthrough of my Sock Puppets TTRPG. All 4 players made their puppets in advance and didn't show each other until they were live.

Please witness the exact moment Andrew wheeled in "Dr. Bean."

The whole stream is SO funny. See it here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGIJ...

A screenshot of a live playthrough of a tabletop RPG. At the top-left, a human-sized puppet is wheeled onscreen. At the bottom-left, a hand puppet fills the frame. On the right, both other plays laugh in open-mouthed astonishment.

June 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

So exciting!!! I'm sad I'll miss this live* but I'm psyched to watch the VOD.

I'm told the puppets are 🧑‍🍳💋.

The Moonshot Podcast Network @moonshotpods.bsky.social · Jun 23

TONIGHT: Join the Moon Crew as they balance dysfunction, edutainment, and real life puppetry on the set of a children's TV show! It's a LIVE actual play of @kurtrefling.bsky.social's Sock Puppets!

Monday, June 23
9 PM Eastern
twitch.tv/moonshotnetwork

Moonshot Plays Sock Puppets
A roleplaying game about puppets and their problems.

June 23, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

Last summer, a neighbour posted lots of vegetable juice on the local Buy Nothing group: a space for folks to lend or donate things they don't need anymore. I raised my hand -- far be it for a me to turn down free vegetables -- and walked over to the neighbour's address. (1/8)

June 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Sam's podcast (Afterimage) is the best attempt to capture the feeling of tabletop play ever made.

Sam has shared, with my permission, a pretty rabid take from me on actual play in the thread. I'll take space here to ground and elaborate. (1/6)

Sam D @diceexploder.com · Jun 16

Tomorrow I'm releasing the first episode of Dice Exploder: Afterimage, a new show format that's equal parts play report and This American Life style personal memoir.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I have ever received is for this thing. (1/2)

June 16, 2025 at 7:49 PM

Reposted by Kurt Refling

Himeutsugi ❦ 🦜🧮 dice roller vtuber

@hime.vtubers.social

We're continuing on with The Hourglass Sings by @kurtrefling.bsky.social tonight! www.twitch.tv/himeutsugi #vtuber #vsky #solorpg #solottrpg

Hime standing in front of the cover of indie TTRPG The Hourglass Sings

June 13, 2025 at 12:03 AM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

IPR is bringing Sock Puppets and all its friends to Origins this year, so here's some glamour shots of my little TTRPGs. Vibes: Avenue Q, Majora's Mask, Lassie.

(I know marketing is like 80% bragging, but you might wanna stop by early! Sock Puppets sold out at UKGE, to my delight and surprise.)

A copy of a book titled Sock Puppets sits on a table. The book reads, "A roleplaying game about puppets and their problems." The cover image pictures a concerned-looking sock on a puppet show set, complete with lights and a camera.

The game is surrounded by crafting supplies: scissors, glue, markets, stickers, paper, and so many googly eyes.

A game titled "The Hourglass Sings" sits on a sandy surface. The cover art, done in pixel art reminiscent of cross-stitch, shows a seated figure with a hurdy-gurdy on their back. The figure is facing away from the viewer, looking out at a town that extends into distant mountains. Additional text indicates that the game is 1 - 6 players, and is made by Kurt Refling.

Surrounding the book are various decorations: dried flowers; a pocket watch; three bronze triangles; circular cards; and, a vessel spilling sand.

A zine sits on a wooden table. The title reads "Big Dog Big Volcano". The cover art pictures a mountain in the background, and a woman with her dog in the foreground. The mountain, title text, and characters all have the same silhouette. Text reads: "A TTRPG by Kurt Refling & Kathleen Hartin. 3 players, 60-90 minutes."

Several implements surround the book: dice spilling out from a dice bag; a water bottle; a frond of a plant; and driftwood.

June 12, 2025 at 3:27 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

i'm still really proud of how the silhouettes of the volcano, title text and characters echo each other

Kurt Refling @kurtrefling.bsky.social · Oct 3

new ttrpg dropping soon 🌋

A volcano rises above a girl and her dog. Text reads: Big Dog, Big Volcano. A TTRPG by Kurt Refling and Kathleen Hartin. 3 players, 90 minutes. The volcano, text and foreground figures are the same shape.

June 6, 2025 at 1:29 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

I've released 15 TTRPGs. Most of them have terrible names. Here's what I did wrong, so you don't make the same mistake.

Linking as a blog post, but also pasting as images in case you really hate clicking off-site (continued in thread).

www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/...

Earlier today, I teased a friend for naming their TTRPG EA Sports¹. I realized about five seconds later that almost all my games have their own name problems, most of which were not on purpose. So now it's time for me to eat my humble pie and tell you all my sins.

The bad names fall into 3-ish categories. I'll write a quick explanation paragraph, then give the examples.

Sin 1 - You Can't Search For This:
This is the one thing I am begging you to take away from this post. Always do a quick search for your game's name, or you'll end up being one of the seven people who chose to name their TTRPG Apotheosis. (I think it's back down to 6. The clever guy who got there first rebranded for the second edition.)

As a general rule, if a search of "Your Game's Name game" still won't find your work, rethink.

Excuse Meow!: I am far from the only person who liked this pun. Most famously, it is an episode from Australian children's television show The Wiggles.

Faewater: This one is actually too good, so a dice company stole it². I take solace in the fact that the set is out of stock, and they for some reason needed a warning on the page that their dice are really sharp and may result in death. (It actually says that.)

The Junk Drawer: Common expression, and now there's two of us.

This Spells Trouble: Once again, this is a common expression in English. And now there's two of us. (Somehow STILL better than the working title, the navel-gazing This Strange World.)

Sock Puppets: Not only is this unsearchable, but searching its name on social media brings up the most toxic, depressing threads on any platform.

Sin 2 - You Won't Remember This (or the Concept is Unclear):
Your game title should stick in people's heads. For most people, "you won't remember this" applies because you've chosen a fantasy word that's much too difficult to spell. For me, it's probably because I got too poetic.

Here We Used to Fly: Oh, do you mean Where We Used to Fly, as everyone I have ever spoken to calls it? (This was my big game for a while in spite of the confusion, so I'll take the W. wait. uh. actually. i guess i didn't.)

Letters We Didn't Write Together: I thought this was a super pretty title for a collection of game poems. But that's kind of the problem -- it's not an epistolary game, which the title strongly implies. It doesn't even really tell you that it's more than one game!

Sin 3 - You Had to Be There:
This is a name that's an inside joke. And I know you're thinking what kind of goober names a game after an inside joke? Me, twice.

But that's not the only way to make this mistake. Sometimes you just get too into your own worldbuilding. Ask yourself: did you name your game after an in-world location that's only interesting to you? Is "The Flame Lord's Castle" actually a good name, or do you just have a fond memory of it?

Chuck & Noodles: A pun that only exists because my Discord server was joking about using a pasta divination mechanic. This is also bad because it's a joke name for a SAD GAME.

Star Chapters: A magical girl game. I don't think most people realize I'm playing with "Cardcaptors," which means the title reference is illegible.

This is Just Who We Are: The Tangent Game: Awful. What is it even about? Granted, the beloved game group I created this for chose the name, so it's not entirely my fault. But this game's branding is so bad that even I forget it exists.

May 23, 2025 at 5:14 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

if moonshot hits 1k on their weekend streamathon, they'll play sock puppets

but here's the catch: it's also for a good cause 🏳️‍⚧️

The Moonshot Podcast Network @moonshotpods.bsky.social · May 22

Our $1000 milestones are two great actual play streams - Interstitial 2e Crowd Control, where the chat gets to control and roll for a character, and SOCK PUPPETS, a tabletop game about a failing children's TV show where players must make actual puppets.

a-smouldering-lighthouse.itch.io/sock-puppets

Sock Puppets by A Smouldering Lighthouse

Make puppets. Ruin a perfectly good puppet show.

a-smouldering-lighthouse.itch.io

May 22, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

hime played for 3 hours, drew 6 cards and almost cried.

you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

Himeutsugi ❦ 🦜🧮 dice roller vtuber @hime.vtubers.social · May 22

Forgot to post my going live thing here again but I finally got to play The Hourglass Sings tonight and I am blown away at how well-crafted it is. It's a perfect (solo) gameplay loop for the themes of the game. The prompts are so evocative despite being "vague" and I've loved writing for them.

May 22, 2025 at 5:36 AM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

i ran Sock Puppets at a convention this weekend -- a game about puppeteers being selfish and weird on a failing children's tv show. one of the puppeteers has a weird kink; their player gets to choose what the kink is.

she chose puppets. we were horrified. it was incredible.

May 21, 2025 at 6:13 PM

Kurt Refling

@kurtrefling.bsky.social

if you like solo actual plays, you can tune in tonight at 9pm eastern to see himeutsugi play through The Hourglass Sings!

Himeutsugi ❦ 🦜🧮 dice roller vtuber @hime.vtubers.social · May 19

This week's stream schedule! It's the last week of school and I may get pulled to do other things in the evening, so dates might change a tad. This week I'm playing solo TTRPGs by @kurtrefling.bsky.social and @iamthehornedone.bsky.social~ I'm looking forward to them! #vtuber #vsky #solottrpgs

Hime's stream schedule for the week of May 19th, featuring art by Amerythiel. Doing an AP of The Hourglass Sings on Monday at 8PM CST, a TTRPG design productivity stream Tuesday at 8PM CST, Elden Ring on Friday at 7PM CST, and continuing the Riftbreakers campaign on Saturday at 2PM CST.

May 19, 2025 at 6:34 PM

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